Glitch in the System
by ILoveToNya
Summary: After discovering a "glitch" person behind a door no one has been able to open... Naoi has to help them remember and move on from their regrets in life before the SSS get them first. Can Naoi help this "glitch"? Or will they forever be tormented by the SSS?
1. Chapter 1

-Guild-  
Yuri, Otonashi, Hinata, and Naoi were slowly making their way through the Guild. Otonashi didn't know why they were there, and for that matter, neither did Naoi. Hinata and Yuri were ahead of them, neither saying a word. The only thing Naoi was worried about was possibly dying…and Otonashi.

Hopefully Hinata and Yuri knew where they were going.

"Yurippe, are we there yet?" Hinata whined.

"Almost. Don't go all crybaby on me yet." Yuri snapped.

Otonashi and Naoi felt like saying something, but both kept their mouths closed.

"We're here." Yuri said. They were all standing in front of a huge door that looked dusty.

"This is it?" Otonashi asked, unsure if the trip was really worth it.

"Yep. This is what we were looking for." Yuri said as she walked towards the door.  
The gigantic door had a music note printed on it. It looked peculiar. Strange that it would just be there holding no value whatsoever. Yuri stood there for a minute and then took a deep breath.

She hummed a sweet little tune….

She opened her eyes, but nothing happened. She had a mean little look on her face.

"Dammit...how could it not work!" She yelled. All three of the boys flinched. Then, Hinata walked towards her.

"Hey, Yurippe, we'll open it next time, okay? Don't feel so down…" Hinata said as he tried to calm the angered girl.

"Grr… Hey! We know you're in there! Come out right now!" Yuri yelled as she stomped the ground and banged on the door. Otonashi had to help Hinata grab her and pull her back.

Naoi wasn't paying attention. He usually didn't when the battlefront acted like morons. Something else grabbed his attention. He was so attached to it he started walking without noticing it. It was a tune… completely different from what Yuri just hummed. It was a beautiful, melodic tune.

"Hey,where's Naoi? "Someone from the other side said. Naoi clicked back to reality and started to walk back into the school with the others.

-Night-

Naoi quietly sneaked out of his dorm. He was determined to figure out where the song was from. He was always the type to investigate something mysterious, it was how his curiosity worked. He wanted to ask Otonashi to accompany him, but he felt more comfortable doing it himself. He also didn't want to wake him.

Naoi made it to the Guild. He remembered the way to the door. As he walked over to it, the song started to get louder and louder. He pressed his head against the door and listened. It seemed that was where it was coming from. An idea popped into his head.

He started to slowly hum the tune as gracefully as he could…

Then, the musical note on the door began to light up! It spread all over the door and eventually it blasted into pieces!

Naoi awkwardly hoped nobody heard that…

As the impact from the blast was clearing out, Naoi noticed a girl sitting behind the destroyed door. She had on an SSS uniform and grey hair that faded into an aquamarine color that reached the ground. It seemed as if she was sleeping…

"Um...hello?" He said, hoping to get a reaction. Naoi was excited to have opened the door, but was creeped out at seeing a sleeping girl behind it.

'Maybe this is the one Yuri was screaming about…' he thought. He walked closer, to see if he could get the girl's attention.

The mysterious girl's eyes opened in shock… she quickly panicked and began to glitch.

Wait...glitch?

She glitched out of sight. Leaving Naoi with a confused expression on his face

"What was that?..."


	2. Chapter 2

"Um...hello?" Naoi said with a confused expression. He had no idea what he just witnessed, which intrigued him even more.

"Please...go away…" he heard a soft, nervous voice say. "I really don't like 'visitors'."

"Where are you? I'm not trying to hurt you, just come out." Naoi said calmly, hoping that his tone of voice would make the person less nervous. He would be very angry if he came all the way to the Guild in the middle of the night for nothing.

"You...won't hurt me? Promise?" The voice said shyly. Naoi felt like this situation was kinda ridiculous.

"Of course not. P-promise…" He was unsure about making a promise with someone he can't even see. He started seeing pixels forming together in front of him.

The pixels formed into the shape of the girl he saw. He was amazed, and couldn't wait to tell Otonashi!

"Okay...I'm here. But we should probably get out of this place." She said, back to her nervous tone.

"Why is tha-" he was cut off by the sound of the floor vibrating under his feet. Eventually rocks started falling from the ceiling as well.

"Is this some kind of avalanche?!" He panicked. Maybe this was the after effects of unlocking the door, he thought.

"Please! We have to hurry!" The girl grabbed his hand and dragged him throughout the Guild quickly. Naoi could only see rocks falling everywhere through his blurred vision.

He blacked out.

He woke up in the infirmary.

He looked around and the girl appeared to be nowhere in sight. He thought it could've been a dream, but it was far too real to be something like that. Apparently, the girl was nice enough to bring him all the way to the infirmary and wrap bandages around his head. He guessed that he was hit on the head with a rock. No wonder he fainted.

The Bell rung. Which meant it was time for either class or lunch. Naoi didn't care. He went to the cafeteria anyway. The night before was exhausting.

Lunchroom! -

He had a meal ticket for rice, so that was his lunch. Luckily, he saw Otonashi and Hinata having a conversation at one of the tables. He didn't really care about the latter, but seeing Otonashi was good enough to convince him to sit with them.

...He looked to his side and saw the girl from the night before, sitting at a table in a dark corner alone.

He really wanted to talk to Otonashi, but he could wait long enough for Naoi to talk to the mysterious girl. So, he slowly advanced to the table she was at.

When he walked close enough, she still didn't notice him. He cleared his throat to clarify his presence. She jumped, with that same nervous look as before.

"Hello there." He said with a kind smile. When he does something like that, he calls it his "charm", or more specifically, his "student council president charm". Otonashi always scoffs when he mentions it.

"Oh...hello." She whispered. He could already tell she wasn't fond of talking to people. How could she be when she's been trapped behind a door the whole time?

"I deeply apologize for the incident last night. Did you rest well?" She spoke a little louder. It seems that she must've escaped without a scratch. She spoke so properly. Naoi wasn't used to people around him speaking like that, except for Angel, NPCs, and sometimes Yuri.

"I'm fine, by the way, I'm Ayato Naoi, student body vice president. You can call me God." She giggled.

"Mr. Naoi, huh? That's a wonderful name." She smiled. No one called him " " before, he felt like someone finally respected him.

"I have a few questions for you, if you don't mind." He said, determined to seek information from this mysterious, "glitchy" girl. She started to look nervous.

"Okay… hopefully I can remember the answers." She said.

"Alright then, what's your name?" He asked. He wanted to start with a simple question to not overwhelm her.

"M- my name? On no… Ggrh... m̖̮̦̹̗̊ͧ̀̕͢ͅͅȩ̥̭̭̹͔̪̤ͣ̈ͥ͘a̾̌̇ͩ̏́̕... ̷͉̦̱̍̒͐͝t̪͓̬͍͍̤̟͈͗͋̒̊̽h̷̨̠̩̰̯̭̻̙̓͒͢i̓͂̒ͮ…" She started to shake and glitch in and out. It really hurt Naoi's eyes to be honest.

"OK! OK! Please stop! You're going to hurt yourself!" Naoi yelled. He looked behind him to see if anyone was looking. She eventually calmed down.

"What was that?" Naoi looked in shock.

"I am so sorry! That happens when I get too nervous or confused!" She apologized.

"So you can't remember?" Naoi asked. If would be a shame if the poor girl couldn't remember her own name.

"Not at the moment…" she said, completely restored to her timid personality.

"OK. Then I'll make you a name. How about 'glitch girl'?" Naoi pitched the terrible idea to her. Her look almost turned to disappointment.

"Please don't call me that. That sounds mean " she said as if Naoi was purposely picking on her. He thought she was being too sensitive at this point, but he reminded himself that she's been sheltered from everyone the whole time.

Naoi thought hard about a name the girl would accept…

"Nanami!"

"What?"

"I'll call you Nanami from now on! How's that?" He said excitedly.

"But why 'Nanami', Mr. Naoi?" She asked, confused.

"Nanami means 'seven seas' and when I look at the blue color your hair fades into, it reminds me of the sea. It can also mean beautiful." He winked at her cheerfully. She blushed for a moment.

"Well, I guess Nanami isn't so bad, its actually kind of nice." She smiled happily. Her stomach started rumbling. She started to blush really hard.

"Hey...want to share my rice? You must be hungry." He offered her.

"No! I couldn't possibly take your lunch!" She rejected.

"Come on! It won't bother me. You need it more than I do." She looked at the rice for a minute…

"Thank you so much!" She said and quietly started to eat the rice.

"It's no problem." Naoi was looking forward to knowing more about Nanami.


	3. Chapter 3

-Principal's Office-

Everyone was gathered in Anti Angel Headquarters for a meeting. Naoi thought Nanami was responsible enough to travel the school alone. She promised him that she would talk to him later. Until then, he could talk to Otonashi or something.

"Hey Naoi, where have you been?" Otonashi asked. Naoi felt like it had been forever since the two of them had a regular conversation.

Then again, Naoi couldn't tell Otonashi about what happened. He also promised to hide her from the Battlefront for whatever reason. She really was a peculiar girl.

"Hi Otonashi, I've just been handling some business lately." He said with a big grin. The boy couldn't help but be happy when they talked.

"Attention, everyone." Yuri called. Everyone's focus was shifted towards her.

"So what did you call this meeting for, Yurippe?" Hinata asked.

"Is it trouble with Angel?" Noda questioned with his halberd raised high.

"Actually, I have good news and bad news," Yuri started, "The good news is that the secret door in the Guild has been opened."

Everyone was shouting cheerfully. Except Naoi, who was flabbergasted. He should have known to have covered his tracks, how was he supposed to know Yuri checked out the door after it had been opened? On the other hand, he probably should've known better.

"The bad news is that our little 'victim' escaped in time for us to miss it."

Everyone's attitude immediately dropped. Naoi's too, knowing what would come next. He was nervous.

"So, I call this one," Yuri paused, "Operation Manhunt!"

"What's this all about?" Otonashi asked.

"Isn't it obvious? We're going to hunt for the glitch!" Yuri explained. "Everyone is going to spread out, and search for a shady person. Luckily, I know its weakness. If you splash water onto to it, it's going to glitch out for sure! Once you've found who it is, bring it back to HQ and I'll decide what to do with it.

"But what did it do wrong?" He questioned.

"And how the hell are we supposed to know what it looks like?!" Yui asked in an obnoxious tone, which made Hinata want to wrestle her.

Yuri looked on the edge of being angry. "That thing tried to go against us, that's what it did!" Yuri yelled. Otonashi looked frightened by her tone.

"Now then, Operation… Start!"

Naoi had a bad feeling about this…

-Roof-

Nanami was scared. She knew they would find her. That's why she imprisoned herself behind a door the whole time. She was waiting for someone who would care about her. She didn't remember much, but she knew not a lot of people cared about her when she was alive. The Afterlife just made it worse. Here, she had no family, no friends, no one. And now, she feels bad for dragging Naoi down with her. Maybe it would be better for him to just forget about her and save himself the trouble…

"There you are!" She heard a voice from behind her. She quickly glitched out of sight.

"Don't hide, its me, Naoi!" She realized her mistake and became visible again. She was relieved to hear his voice once more.

She turned around and saw him. "Sorry, Mr Naoi. I thought they found me. I haven't really been able to take it easy in a while." She said.

"Relax, no one's gonna hurt you. If they do, they'll have to go through me first, and believe me, I'm sure they don't want to do that again." He said with an evil smirk.

Nanami looked at him confused. "You've been an enemy of the SSS before?" She asked curiously.

"You bet. You should've seen their faces when I came at them." He said confidently. Nanami giggled.

"So how did you end up becoming a part of them?" She questioned. Naoi's smirk became a soft smile.

"Otonashi." He said softly. "He saved me. He gave me the one thing I wanted in life; to be acknowledged."

"Otonashi…? So he helped you, huh? He seems nice." She said with a smile.

"Come on, let's go somewhere else, we can't stay in one place all day!" Naoi said as he opened the door for Nanami.

"I suppose." She said as she walked past him.

-Hallway-

Naoi is walking down the hallway with Nanami close behind. Naoi hopes nobody will see them together. Just as he was thinking, a door beside him opened. It seemed to be Angel, or 'Tachibana' as he would call her. She looked up at him.

"Good morning, Naoi." She said emotionless. She looked behind him to see the shy girl standing there. Nanami gasped.

Angel pointed at her. "I know you." She stated bluntly.

Naoi quietly cursed to himself. He forgot to cover her in time. He would make a terrible bodyguard, he thought. Nanami started to glitch and get a little teary-eyed.

"Please D͟.̬̰͙̺̖̲̬.͎̖̺̣͕̼.̺͍d̛͇͇̜òń̠͉̗͇̻̻'t͏̥.̩̟̯..H̱̮̝̼̪̞̹́u̯͚͎̲̩̮͜r̺̰̹̥͕̫ͅt̗͕̹͇̺.̢̬͓͖̟̬̭.͓͈.̹͈̫͚̬.̺̕M̧̪̱͕e̸̳͕!͉̦̯̗͚̟͉͡ " Naoi turned around quickly to help her. Angel just stood there shocked.

"Nanami! Please! Get a hold of yourself!" He shouted. Angel stepped forward and touched Nanami lightly, which caused both of them to get a electric shock, but it ended the glitching.

"Wait...How did you do that?" Naoi was amazed. He saw Angel do many things, but not something like that before.

"...I know her." Angel repeated. Even though it didn't answer the question, Naoi accepted that as her answer.

Nanami lifted her head up slowly.

"Kanade Tachibana...its nice to see you again…"


	4. Chapter 4

-Student Council Room-

Kanade, Nanami, and Naoi had settled down and started to talk for a while in the student council room. Nanami insisted to call Angel "Kanade" instead of the nickname the SSS gave her.

"It's so good to see the battlefront hasn't broken your spirit." Nanami said as she sipped at some tea Kanade prepared for the three of them.

"Mhmm." Kanade quietly agreed as she drank more of her tea as well.

"Let's get down to business here. How do you two know each other? " Naoi interrupted.

"Ms. Kanade and I used to be...well...partners I guess you can call it." She blushed a little as she thought about saying "friends". "When I first came here, I teamed up with her to help the SSS disappear. Unfortunately, they backed me into a corner and that was when I trapped myself behind the door.

It was quite a while ago, before you and Otonashi joined the SSS. Actually a long while ago" She giggled.

"Sounds interesting." he commented. He was actually more relaxed that Kanade was their ally rather than their enemy in this situation. Kanade realized that they had ran out of tea.

"Nanami...could you please get us more tea?" She politely asked. Nanami stood up.

"Of course, anything for you Ms. Kanade!" She happily skipped out the door.

Kanade looked at Naoi for a minute.

"What?" Naoi asked annoyed.

"We must help her." She said. Naoi was surprised that Kanade would be that straightforward about it.

"Well, that's kind of obvious." He stated. They both **knew** she needed help.

"No...I mean she needs to leave this world...immediately." Kanade's look was dead serious. It kinda intimidated Naoi.

"But how? Neither of us know anything about her past, and protecting her from the Battlefront is hard enough."

Kanade sighed. "I will handle the battlefront, you will handle learning more about her."

"And about the glitch stuff?"

"I'll have to look more into that."

"I guess we have a deal, Tachibana." They shook hands. Naoi could see a hint of a smile on her face. She was probably happy to help her "partner".

 _SMASH_!

"Ahhhhh!" They heard a scream awfully familiar to Nanami's voice. They both rushed out of the door to find out what was going on.

-Hallway-

"Found you, you little rat! Just wait till I tell Yurippe!"

It was Noda. He held his halberd up to Nanami's neck.

"Please...L͈͈ͅe͚a͇v͍̳͓̙͔͔̖e̞͚̜̩̪͡ ̪ ̼̣͇̀M̠̙̲e͉̜͈ ̷̹̩A͈̦͓̮͍͖l̦̭̗͇̲̫̖on͕͓̝̲̦̬̟ḙ̘͟!͉̻͉͈̼̣̯́ "She started glitching in and out.

"Not a chance!" He yelled as he swung his halberd.

"Nooo!" Naoi screamed. This is the exact opposite of what he wanted for her.

Kanade quickly jumped into action.

 _Slash!_

Her Hand Sonic and his halberd collided as they both swung!

Kanade counter attacked and kicked him in the stomach. He fell over and dropped his halberd. He growled.

"Holy crap! You too?! Yurippe is gonna be pissed!" He yelled. He grabbed his halberd and charged back at Kanade. He didn't stand a chance against her head on.

As they were fighting, Naoi grabbed Nanami and carried her to the infirmary to recover. Naoi was frustrated. Noda always did bother him.

'God shouldn't have to put up with this!... ' He thought. He would leave Noda up to Kanade.

-Infirmary-

Nanami woke with blurry vision.

" . I. ?" She said weakly. Naoi was by her side, holding his hat.

"Calm down, everything will be alright." He felt like he was taking care of a child, but he didn't mind all that much since she was weak at the moment.

"No it won't." She calmly said. "All I do is cause trouble. Just go away." She curled up in the covers of the infirmary's bed.

"Don't say that. We made a promise." He said, smiling. He wouldn't give up on her yet.

"But... it's true." Her voice quivered. "Ms. Kanade is wasting her time fighting for me."

"Tachibana knows what she's doing, and I do too, so please cut the crap and get up." He started to be firm with her. It was a common thing he did as the student council vice president.

"...okay." She slowly got up and dusted herself off. "I won't give up!" She said firmly and almost angrily.

"That a girl! Now march!"

"Yes sir!" She marched out of the room. Naoi just stood there.

"What am I going to do with her?"

-Hallway-

By the time Nanami woke up, Kanade had already finished Noda. Nanami was still nervous about all of the other members of the SSS, especially Yuri. Kanade may not talk much, but she was of great help to Nanami.

"Oh dear. Is the maniac gone?" Nanami said with a relieved expression.

"He is." Kanade said, with her usual expressionless look.

"Follow me." Kanade started walking down the hallway. Nanami started to quickly stay behind her. As of now, Kanade was her protector. She was very grateful towards her. After a few minutes of walking, Kanade opened the door to the roof.

"Stay here." Then, she left without saying anything else. Nanami told her to wait, but she left before her getting out a word. She guessed Kanade thought she was safe on the roof. She really couldn't object to that.

Naoi and Kanade were her only allies. And the SSS were looking for her. She felt hopeless. She wished there was a way to get out of her situation.

 _Slam!_

The rooftop door burst open. Nanami jumped up. People started running to every side of her with guns pointed. She saw a familiar person walk in front of them.

'No way… it can't be… magenta hair, silver gun, that uniform… on no…'

Noda stood beside her. "Told you I would tell her." He said with a smirk.

Yuri pointed the gun straight at her face.

"Put your hands up."


	5. Chapter 5

Nanami was terrified. She tried to glitch out of sight, but she felt like she couldn't even do that anymore. She had no choice but to surrender. Yuri put the gun down.

"Take her." Yuri ordered. All the members standing around her grabbed her and dragged her into the hallway. They were taking her to their HQ. She knew it. She would probably die, but she didn't know what purpose her death would hold to the SSS. She would just come back anyway.

Principals Office-

They set Nanami on the floor. Yuri stood in front of her.

"Why are you doing this? What do you want?" Nanami whispered, trying to plead with them.

Yuri sighed. "Too many things are happening at the same time for me to concentrate on making a decision. I'll just do it tomorrow. For now, we need you to stay put."

Hinata and Ooyama tied her up. "Are you sure this is legal?" Ooyama asked.

"Don't make her mad. Just shut up and keep tying." Hinata complained.

She kept her head down as everyone continued to talk and do other things. Eventually, they all headed to their dorms. She was still there.

The door opened.

"Oh my God! Are you okay?" It was Naoi. He ran to her side and started to untie her. He couldn't get to her earlier because he had a meeting.

She was asleep. He noticed that, but apologized anyway. He carried her all the way to his dorm. She had nowhere else to go, so it was the only place she could rest for the night. He felt weird sleeping in the same bed as a girl, but it was nice to him…

-Morning-

Nanami woke up. She felt strange, like she was on a big, soft bed. She got up, and it turns out she really was in one. But there was someone besides her…

"Eeek!" She pulled the covers over her, as she noticed she was sleeping with Naoi. Naoi simply got up and rubbed his eyes.

"Good morning." He said sleepily as he yawned. He looked at her weird when he noticed she had the covers over her.

"Am I...fully clothed?" She asked, blushing.

"Of course you are, what do you mea-" Naoi noticed why she asked such a strange question and started smiling.

"What's funny?!" She asked embarrassed.

"If you wanted to do _that_ instead, you could've just told me." He said with a grin.

"Wha- I just wanted to know!" She said blushing even harder. She jumped out of bed to see that she was in pajamas that the infirmary provided

"Oh...right." She said relieved.

"If you want, you could still watch me change clothes." He winked at her. He loved teasing people, more specifically Hinata.

"I'll just… hey, this dorm is huge!" She noticed that Naoi's dorm was bigger than a regular dorm, kind of like an apartment.

"My hypnotism comes in handy, even when it's not necessary." He smirked.

"H-hypnotism?" She questioned him.

"Oh that's right. I never told you, I guess you know now though." He laughed a little.

"How strange…" she commented.

"I'll show you how it works soon enough." He assured. "Until then let's get dressed."

"Okay." She happily agreed.

While Naoi was getting dressed, Nanami was in another room of his 'dorm'. She realized something.

'On no...I can't go back there, not after what happened yesterday! They'll just come back to get me!' She thought.

After Naoi was finished, she immediately told him. "That _is_ a problem. Hmmm. Just stay in the student council room, i'm sure Tachibana won't mind, it's probably the one place they won't look. He instructed.

"That sounds fine. I'm glad that you're the one that found me ! You're so smart!" She praised him.

"Heh...yeah. I am pretty great aren't I?" He proclaimed. Nanami giggled.

"Come on, let's get out of here."

Kanade's Dorm "Angel's Domain" -

"Hmm…" Kanade sighed as she browsed through the Angel Player software. She was thinking if anything had something to do with a glitch, it would be this software. So far she couldn't find anything wrong.

...But that encounter earlier when they touched must have something to do with the system.

She was almost late, so she would just continue it after school…

\- Hallway -

All three of them were walking down the hallway together. More specifically, Kanade and Naoi were walking quickly down the hallway while Nanami was close behind.

When they got to the door, Naoi walked in and Kanade looked at Nanami.

"Stay here for a moment please. It will only be a second." Kanade requested.

"Okay. Please make it quick." Nanami replied and then glitched out of sight.

Student Council Room -

"Hey, I thought you agreed to let her in." Naoi argued. Kanade turned around.

"I did. I want to discuss something with you." They both sat down.

"Did you figure out the glitch thing?" Naoi asked.

"I did not…"Kanade reported. "However, I thought of something else to solve a problem."

"Then what is it?"

"Your hypnosis."

"You want me to hypnotise her?" Naoi started, "Are you sure that glitch stuff won't start happening? Earlier, I asked her for her name and it happened then…"

"You mean her name isn't Nanami?" Kanade asked, slightly baffled.

"You mean you never asked for her name when you two worked together?.." Naoi asked, annoyed.

"No." She bluntly answered. Naoi sighed.

"Fine. I guess it'll help jog her memories so she can move on.." He submitted.

"Do you not enjoy her presence?" Kanade questioned him.

"Of course I do. It's just that we both want her to be happy…" Naoi looked down.

"I see. We must do what is best for her…"

Kanade opened the door. "You may come in now."

Nanami glitched back into sight."Thank goodness, I thought I was going to faint! Glitching out of sight is kind of hard to do manually, but I've never done it for that long! She smiled. Kanade let her in."

"Sit down. I have to get going because 1st period is about to start." Kanade left and gently closed the door.

Nanami pulled a chair out. "So what did you two discuss?"

"I'm going to hypnotize yo-"

"Yay! I'm so excited!"

Naoi frowned. "You didn't let me finish. I'm going to hypnotize you to help you remember your memories."

"Oh…" She perked up. "Well, I can't wait to remember!" Naoi could tell she was lying. Nobody would want to remember what a horrible life they've had.

"Okay. Relax. I don't want you to glitch out, okay?"

"I'll try my best not to…"

"Alright." Naoi began to stare at her. His eyes turned crimson. She couldn't look away…

...Her memories began coming back...


	6. Chapter 6

~ Nanami POV

It was early in the morning. The birds were singing, sun was high in the sky…

'Another dreadful day…' I thought. I turned in my bed to go back to sleep. Then the annoying creak of my door made me open my eyes. I already knew.

"Mai...wake up honey, it's time for school." It was Mom. She's always cheerful when waking me up...because I know if I don't get up in time, she'll pour water all over my face. Since the feeling of water hitting my face was terrible, I got out of my comfy bed to put on my uniform. It was a blue-ish black uniform jacket with a pleated skirt.

"Bye Mom, I'll see you later." I said, faking a smile. I walked outside onto our patio filled with beautiful flowers. I heard a few kids walking by saying " Hi,Ms. Kagome!" They remembered me because I always took the same route to school.

By now, my sister had left the house. She was a few years older than me and had just started working. It really didn't matter to me if I was late. I don't really enjoy school anyway. It's a waste of time. I only want to be a mangaka when I get a job, so why do I have to go to school when it's not going to benefit me? It doesn't help that I don't have friends either. Everyone thinks I'm shy or weird. My family barely talks to me. I'm always sitting in my room alone.

All of this depressing stuff makes me want to…kill.

I'm already dead internally. I'll die without having any friends. Nobody ever sees me for who I really am because no one cares...I-

"Hey!" Someone shouted at me. I immediately snapped out of my trance. It was my sister. She was driving to work today instead of walking, which surprised me since she's a terrible driver.

"If you wouldn't have overslept, I could've given you I ride earlier. Get in!" She was obviously aggravated. I slowly got on the car.

I thanked her, but she stayed silent. I have no idea if she hates me or not. She does take after our father, who obviously prefers her over me.

"Miki...can we talk for a minute?.." I whispered.

"Fine, whatever." She scoffed.

"I...don't want to live like this anymore." I confessed. It always takes a bit of thought before I start telling someone about how I feel.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"I'm just not happy anymore." I started, "You're so much better than me, I always wonder why our parents decided to have another kid."

"What are you talking about? Whats wrong with you?" She started to get angry. I teared up a bit.

"Nothing. I just…" A few tears flowed down my face. "I don't want to live anymore."

What?!" She yelled. She had to quickly turn around and grab the wheel before we hit a truck. We bounced in our seats due to the sharp turn.

"I'm sorry. Nevermind about it, just keep driving." I apologized, choking on my own tears.

"Nevermind?! Are you insane?! We need to get you some help!" She snapped. There was a car in front of us as she was turned around yelling at me.

It was heading straight for us.

"Miki! Look out!" I screamed. The last thing I saw was glass shards of the window lashing out.

~Normal POV

Student Council Room -

Naoi stopped his hypnosis and started to look worried. Maybe it didn't work, he thought. But soon enough, Nanami looked up.

"Nanami, are you o-" She cut him off.

"I'm not Nanami." She bluntly stated.

"You remembered your name?" Naoi asked astounded.

"My name is Mai Kagome." She said emotionless. She glared at him.

"Um...do you want me to give you time to think?" Naoi asked. He assumed she needed space just as Otonashi did when he regained his memories.

"No! Please stay!" She shouted. She realized that what she wanted in life was.. friends. That's why Naoi could open the door. She subconsciously allowed him to pass because she didn't know him. It made her want to be friends with him.

Kanade, too. Just like her, she wanted to help everyone out and have fun with them, but instead she got the opposite. The Battlefront thought she was weird too, just like when she was alive.

She jumped out of her seat and hugged Naoi tightly.

"Thank you, Ayato." She pulled away and looked down. "If I can call you that…"

"It's fine, doesn't really matter to me. I'm glad I could help you." She hugged him again.

"Seems like you aren't so shy after all, are you Mai-chan?" He teased. She pulled away, embarrassed

"M- Mai-chan? Um...you can call me that if you want to…" she said uneasily.

"What's wrong? It was just a facetious remark. Is someone getting shy of me now?" He continued to play with her. She was slightly offended by him calling her shy, but started smiling.

"Wait, you think I'm shy?" She asked cheerfully.

"It's kind of obvious." He pointed out. She was excited. She realized something. Naoi and Kanade weren't just her allies...they were her friends. They talked to her, they comforted her, they were the type of people she wanted around her when she was living.

"Even though you're with the SSS, you still helped me. I can't express my gratitude in words for how thankful I am that you did that for me." She advanced towards the door and opened it.

"Where are you going?" He asked confused.

She turned around and put her hand on her chest softly." If I can repay you in anyway...please let me know." She had a miserable smile on her face, and then she left.

She left Naoi in there alone, wondering to himself where she was headed. Kanade peeked into the room from behind the door.

"I thought you were in first period. How long have you been standing there?" He asked suspiciously.

"I came by in between periods. I wanted to ask Nanami if she wanted to come to class with me. She needs to come back immediately." Kanade muttered.

"Why? Where was she headed?" He questioned her.

"The Principal's Office."

"Crap. What does she think she's doing?! Come on!" He grabbed Kanade's hand as they rushed down the hallway.

They both knew what she was going to do: confront the SSS. They needed to hurry before she began a crisis for her, Kanade, and Naoi to be pestered with.

Principals Office -

Everyone in the SSS HQ were chatting about. They were all baffled when they heard a gentle knock on the door.

"Answer it." Yuri ordered from her desk

"Hey...you really shouldn't open the door if you don't know who it i- " Otonashi tried to reason, but he was cut off.

"I'll get it!" Yui happily charged towards the door and opened it. She screamed and fell backwards as she realized who it was.

"It's her! She's baaack!" Yui yelled. "Hold me!" She zoomed towards Hinata and he jumped out of the way purposefully.

"So you finally came back." Yuri said aggressively. She lifted a gun and was in a battle pose.

Mai clenched her fists hard.

"I am Mai Kagome, and you can't keep me here forever!" She yelled passionately.

The battle was on.


	7. Chapter 7

Yuri let out a battle cry as she charged towards Mai with all of her might. All of the Battlefront members stood in shock as their leader jumped over her brown desk and sped past them.

Mai gasped and ran down the hallway as quickly as she could with Yuri right on her trail. Even as frightened as she may have seemed, she was ready to make all of her suffering end by defeating Yuri.

Hallway -

The two rushed down the hallway for what felt like hours. The chase stopped by Mai hastily glitching out of sight so Yuri wouldn't be able to see her. Yuri looked around, prepared to strike at any moment.

Mai appeared behind her and lashed out a powerful kick to Yuri's backside, which made the angered girl fall frontward to the ground. Mai even shocked herself with the outcome of her attack.

Yuri quickly got on her feet and fired a few shots at the anxious girl in front of her. Mai hurriedly ducked and glitched to the end of the hallway. The multi-colored hair the girl possessed flew gracefully behind her as she literally ran for her life. Yuri kept up with her as much as she could. Mai wasn't the fastest runner, but her faith and determination is what kept her going.

Yuri slowed down as she heard noises coming from her shirt pocket. She grabbed her walkie-talkie out of it and heard Otonashi talking.

"Yuri, don't worry, we're about to follow you." He assured her, while the static from the walkie-talkie was hurting her ears. She was easily irritated.

"Screw that, I'll handle her myself!" She yelled into the device. She shoved it into her pocket as she focused back on the situation at hand.

"How much longer is it going to take to get there?!" Naoi grunted.

He was still swiftly dragging Kanade down different hallways trying to find Mai. They were both desperate to find her, even if a certain white-haired girl didn't show it.

"Turn here." Kanade calmly said. Naoi sharply turned to another hallway, almost running out of breath.

"Can't you at least try to run with me?" Naoi bickered.

Kanade nodded and mumbled "Guard:Skill...Delay."

She teleported them in a mere second. It was simply farther down the hallway.

"Well, that helped a lot." Naoi said sarcastically.

"It did."

"What do you mean?! That did absolutely no-" He was cut off by the familiar sound of Yuri yelling.

"Get back here, you bitch!" She yelled. Naoi and Kanade were shocked by the sight of Mai hurriedly running down the hallway in front of them with Yuri close behind.

Yuri fired some more shots, which caused Kanade to activate her Hand Sonic. She jumped in front of the fuming girl and blocked the bullets.

"I have no time for you. Move!" Yuri simply ran around Kanade and continued to chase the frightened girl. Only to be caught by Naoi, who grabbed her before she could start running.

"Argh!" She grunted. "What are you doing? Let go of me!" Yuri ordered. Naoi still held her tightly as she tried to fumble out of his grip.

"Why? Why are you helping the enemy?" She aggressively asked. By now, Mai would be in another hallway as she continuously ran. Kanade was standing behind Naoi, waiting to see what the outcome of the scuffle would be.

"Look," Naoi started, "were all a little distressed here, so we just need to talk, okay? Or do I need to hypnotize you?" He threatened. His breath hit Yuri's neck as he spoke. Yuri began to cease her struggle to get out of his grip.

"Fine. There'd better be a good reason for this." She pulled his arms from around her and started walking away. The two Student Council members glanced at each other and then back at Yuri.

"We're meeting at the Student Council Room tomorrow. You'd better have a good explanation for this." She said as she continued to strut in the opposite direction of them.

"That's a relief. At least now we can get some things sorted out now. Right Tachibana? Tachibana?..." She was gone in an instant. He assumed it was to find Mai. He sighed and walked back to Student Council Room.

Night

Naoi's Dorm -

Naoi sat on his bed reading. Mai came into the room in her pajamas. She had an uneasy look on her face, which Naoi noticed.

"What's the matter?" He asked, concerned. She looked away.

"Well, I was wondering if you're fine with sleeping in the same bed again."

"I thought you told me at lunch that you wanted to sleep on the couch?" He said confused.

"Um..I." she stuttered. "I'm afraid to sleep by myself." She admitted.

Naoi snickered which made Mai blush. "Oh, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have told you."

"No, no it's fine. Even if you are kinda acting like a baby." He said the last part under his breath.

"Thank you! My sister never let me sleep with in her bed." She happily sealed herself under the soft covers of the bed.

She yawned. "Good night, Ayato." She turned off the lamp by his bedside.

"...Hey, I wasn't done reading!"

Girls' Dorms -

As soon as Naoi told Kanade Mai's real name, she decided to go take a look in the school's system to visit her old dorm she used.

As she walked down the hallway, she found the dorm and went in. It was just as Mai left it. It was almost identical to her own dorm. Then again, she did value Kanade a lot.

Kanade Immediately checked the computer. She opened Angèl Player.

She remembered when Mai first invited the silver-haired girl to her dorm.

 _Mai giggled. She used to wear a pair of black glasses back then. She pushed them up on her face._

 _Kanade sat on her bed, which had stuffed animals on it. She grabbed Kanade's arm._

" _Come on Ms. Kanade! I want you to make me weapons and stuff so I can help you out!" She said cheerfully._

 _Kanade nodded and proceeded to create a weapon for the ecstatic girl._

"...I must focus." Kanade snapped out of her memory. When she opened the program, it kept saying 'error' as if there had been a...glitch.

An idea came into Kanade's head. She opened the disc reader of the computer and held the Angel Player disc in her hand.

...it was cracked.

She found the solution to her glitching problem! Well, she found the cause, but she didn't really know the solution.

She decided to think it over the next day and headed to her dorm.

Morning -

The three of them were walking down the hallway together again. Mai held on to Naoi's arm because she wasn't entirely awake. Her eyes were droopy and she couldn't stop yawning. Kanade put her hand on the sleepy girl's back. They stopped at the Student Council Room, just like Yuri said.

"You can go inside and take a short nap if you want." Naoi offered. Mai yawned a "thank you" and then went inside, leaving the two student council members in the hallway. Kanade looked at Naoi for a minute.

"Why are you doing this for her?" Kanade asked, with a little concern showing on her face.

"What do you mean?"

"You are apart of their group, yet you still decide to help her, why?"

"Because, I feel bad for her. It was kinda my fault she's here. I just wanted to help her out while she's stuck here. I also want to prove to Otonashi that I can be helpful, especially after that massacre thing."

Kanade understood. She wanted to help Mai too when she first came to the Afterlife. Those big, innocent eyes that were as green as soft grass melted their hearts into helping the timid girl.

" _Get up. It's time for class." Kanade extended her hand forth for the new girl to take. They were in front of the building where classes usually take place._

" _Oh...thank you. Do you mind helping me around here? I'm very confused." The new girl shyly asked._

Kanade mind skipped to another memory.

" _Ms. Kanade, where are you going? Those kids are going to hurt you!" Maí said worriedly._

 _Kanade simply ignored her pleading and went to the gymnasium to stop those SSS people again._

" _Ms. Kanade, you're so cool!"_

"Hey."

Kanade looked up as she snapped out of her memories again. It was Yuri.

"Let's get this over with." Yuri said as she went into the office. Naoi and Kanade followed, but Kanade gently pushed Mai out of the room.

Mai understood what Kanade was proposing, and walked off. Kanade shut the door behind her and took a seat.

"First things first, where did you find it?" Yuri asked, her voice having that leader-like seriousness to it. Naoi was offended.

"Don't dare call her an 'it', especially since _you_ tried to basically murder her yesterday." He warned. Yuri sighed and rolled her eyes. "I'm the one who opened the door." He confessed.

"How? I've never been able to do it myself." Yuri said shockingly.

"I just...hummed the music that I heard." Naoi bluntly said.

"But I did the same thing, there's no way-" Yuri was cut off.

"Music."

Naoi and Yuri both looked at Kanade for saying that out of nowhere.

"She loves music, but she does not like the battlefront."

"That's how it works? Are you kidding me?" Yuri asked in unbelief.

"Yes." Kanade affirmed.

"How would you even know?" Yuri retorted.

"She told me."

Yuri sighed once more. "On to the next thing, why are you protecting her? I thought you were on our side?"

"I am, but you've made the girl lock herself behind a door this whole time, and you think I'm the one who's crazy?" Naoi huffed and Kanade pushed some hair out of her face.

"She deserves it. Do you know the hell she put us through? Of course you don't." Yuri went on, "She's not as innocent as you think she is. Isn't that right, Angel?"

Kanade simply glanced at Naoi, not knowing what to say.

"Then please do tell me how 'savage' she used to be…"

"I will."


	8. Chapter 8

Flashback -

" _You want to join us?"_

 _The Battlefront was surprised when a girl suddenly came into Anti Angel Headquarters and wanted to join them._

" _Wow, she didn't even need any persuading!" Hinata was surprised._

" _Maybe she just has good taste." Yuri triumphantly said. "Welcome to the group." The girls shook hands._

 _After she introduced the girl to everyone, she had given her a uniform. The girl preferred not to talk to anyone and normally was unseen. One day, Yuri saw her in the hallway and approached her._

" _Hi, haven't seen you in a while." Yuri greeted her. The girl awkwardly turned around to look at Yuri. It seemed like something was wrong._

" _Um...I wasn't doing anything, I just…" she ran off without saying anything else. Her actions left Yuri baffled._

 _The same night, they initiated an Operation: Tornado._

 _The usual members were at their battle positions. They saw the strange girl walking towards the gymnasium. They mistook her for Angel and started shooting. The girl fell on her face in agony._

 _She stayed like that for a few seconds and then got up with a pissed expression on her face._

 _She mumbled "G-Guard Skill: Scythe." A scythe appeared in her hand._

 _She carried her weak body on two feet and lunged towards the members. There were many screams that day as she crazily swung her scythe everywhere. Eventually, she stopped, and started to glitch._

" _No..What h̭̙̘̭̼̺a̯̗v̯̪̻̠e̛͍̜ ̺Í̟͇̰ d҉̭̭͕o̶̲͚̤̗̯ne̫͉͓̩?̙̦̝̬͙̬ͅ..͖̣̤̼.͏̞͉ ̴̣̠̱W͇͇̠̞̗̱̳h̯͚̻͞a̖͔̕t̜͕͕̤'͠s͙̹̖ ̠̤͕̮h̺̮̤̣͠a̕p̙̥p̻̫̫̮̜̀e͍̫̥̤̼n̻̜̗̩̮̪i̜̹͎̙̩̞n͎͓͙̯̭̟̤̕g̡̰͍͓̣͉̗ͅ ̶t̬̱͡ọ̵ ̫̗̕m̪͚̼͝e̬̼?͈͇͟!"̯̞̪̩_

 _She fell to the ground glitching and eventually disappeared to another place._

 _One of the members walkie-talkie came on with someone talking._

" _Hey, is everyone alright? I heard screaming the last time I tried to contact you? Hello?" It was Yuri, sounding the operation was over, she came out of building and was horrified to find the bodies of her friends laid out all over the place._

 _The next day everyone was talking about it. Yuri eventually found out that it was the strange girl she saw before the operation. She was angered by the thought of her betraying them._

 _The girl did the same act at another operation. And another. And another. The killing wouldn't stop. Each time, the girl looked sadder than the last. Yuri refused to even call her a human anymore because of the inhumane murder and the mysterious glitching_

 _Then they conducted an Operation: Parachute. The girl was waiting for them there. The all got into battle formation when they saw her. She gently stepped forward._

" _Listen. I was to apologize for my behavior lately. It was unnecessary. I just want to hel-"_

" _You single handedly kill all of our members in every operation. Give me one reason why we should trust you again." Yuri fumed. The girl looked as if she was going to burst into tears._

" _I...I guess I can't…"_

" _Exactly...Fire!" they all began to repeat the shooting, just like the other day. The girl ran and activated her Guard Skill. She was glitching in and out as she was running._

 _She had no choice but to fight back. She kept repeating the same Guard Skill and threw her scythes at the SSS members, which injured most of them._

 _She ran until they lost sight of her. They saw her turn somewhere. When they got there, all they could see was a rocky door with a music note imprinted on it. It closed tightly with loud noise_

 _Yuri sighed. "Looks like she prepared for this beforehand. We'll get back at her someday. She can't hide for long."_

 _They left the Guild and hadn't seen her since._

"That's the story. It pains me to have to tell you." Yuri pulled a piece of hair out of her face.

Naoi and Kanade fell in silence.

"There's no way that's true she wouldn't do that...right Tachibana?"

Kanade held her head down to hide her face. Apparently, that was her way of admitting to Naoi that it was true.

" _..._ Even if that is the case, she wouldn't do it without a reason." Naoi defended her with a stern look on his face.

"You have to accept the fact that she is a killer."

Naoi went silent.

"I'm gonna give you a week to help her get obliterated, if she isn't gone by then, you have no choice but to hypnotize her and make her go." Yuri ordered. She left the room silently.

"What now?" Kanade asked.

"Now we have to help her disappear. I don't want to have to use my hypnosis on her, she would disappear unwillingly."

Kanade nodded. She understood what they had to do. She quietly left the room to go to class.

Naoi left as well to find Mai.

Roof -

Mai and Naoi were standing on the roof with their arms on the railing, looking down at the NPCs.

"I see. I can just force myself to disappear right now if you want."

"No...you don't have to do that. Besides, don't you want to spend a few more days with God?"

Mai giggled. "I don't even understand why you're doing this anyway." She meant that as a playful statement, but it sounded more pitiful than intended.

Naoi looked at her into her eyes and then back at the ground. "I know what it's like to be alone. For a while in my life, I spent everyday like that."

"Really? I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you bring up your memories."

"Well, whenever I'm with you I feel far from lonely." He winked at her. At this point, she couldn't tell if he was trying to flirt or not. Every time he did that, she blushed and tried to brush it off. He noticed every time.

She smiled, then sadly frowned. "I know she told you. You know, about those horrible things I did. It's okay if you don't feel safe around me."

"How would I be the one not feeling safe when I'm the one that has to protect you?" Naoi taunted.

"Okay, okay, I understand." She assured him. Naoi smirked.

"Why did you do it though?" Naoi asked.

"I couldn't handle myself then. When I locked myself up it gave me time to reflect on my actions." She closed her eyes softly.

"I'm sure not everyone around here _ultimately_ hates you, I mean, maybe you could try to make _some_ friends. That's what you wanted anyway, right?" Naoi tired to cheer her up. Mai silently shook her head.

"I'm not good at making friends. I thought you would know by now." She looked down at all of the NPCs, happily living their lives. Naoi sighed. He felt bad for the girl, but he didn't have time for this. He would eventually have to leave her because of a meeting later.

"Okay…" he grabbed her hand and led her to one of the school's buildings.

They walked through the hallway, and soon enough heard music coming from a room down the hall from them. Mai stopped at the door and opened it quietly so she wouldn't disturb the people inside. Naoi pushed her through the door.

Empty Classroom -

The music immediately stopped when she fell through the door.

She saw four girls, one of which looked familiar. It was the small girl with the pink hair who screamed the other day. They all had a SSS uniform and one of them looked slightly older than the rest. They had guitars and one of them was at a drumset. Mai assumed that they were the same band that played in the Operation Tornado back then. Three of them shrieked.

"Ah! It's her again!" Yui jumped behind a girl with brown hair tied in a ponytail.

"Please don't hurt us!" Two girls said in unison. They looked alike, one girl had violet hair and the other one was blond.

"Don't just stand there, do something!" She yelled at Naoi, who was still standing behind Mai, shrugging.

"Have fun, play nice." Naoi said with a smirk as he closed the door and walked off.


	9. Chapter 9

The girl band looked at her as if she was something dangerous, even if the expression of shock on her face made it seem like she was about to faint at any moment. Finally, Yui stepped forward and spoke.

"So, uh, what's up?" She tried to be as casual and calm as she could. But how could she be when the girl she was talking to was supposedly a ruthless murderer?

The room echoed with silence.

"Th...the roof?" Mai replied, as if she barely understood the question. She crossed her fingers behind her back, hoping they wouldn't throw her out.

"Hahaha! That's a good one!" Yui laughed. "Welcome to the lair of Girls Dead Monster!" She said with glee.

"I wouldn't exactly call it a 'lair' Yui." The brown-haired girl said. "By the way, I'm Hisako, nice to meet you."

She stuck her hand out. Mai softly grabbed her hand.

"It's a pleasure. My name is Mai." The three of them gazed at the other two girls in the corner of the room, whispering.

"Miyuki-chi, I don't think we should trust her!l"

"Why not? She seems nice." Miyuki whined.

"She's an alien, isn't it obvious? There's no way She could be that other girl! Unless she shape-shifted herself to be someone else! If Yurippe won't catch her, we will!" Sekine let out a quiet, evil laugh.

"But I really wanna be friends…"

"What are you two doing?" Hisako interrupted. They both whipped around scaredly.

"Uh, nothing! Nice to meet you, new girl! I'm Sekine and this is Irie!"

"Those two sure are weird sometimes…" Hisako sighed. Yui speedily pushed a guitar into Mai's hands.

"Come on! Let's teach how to play an instrument! Woo!" Yui squealed with glimmers in her eyes. Mai nodded nervously.

She was going to be there a while…

SSS Headquarters -

Yuri already explained to everyone the situation at hand and decided to put off Operation Manhunt...for the moment. She didn't include Naoi in her explanation. She did have _some_ respect for him after all. He walked up to her desk she was sitting at after everyone else left.

Well, thanks for not selling me out to those blockheads, if they found out, I would have to avoid them for the rest of my life here. He smirked. Yuri grinned back at him.

"Even if that would be something to occupy their time, I can't afford to have them chasing you around all day."

"Aw, I'm special."

"Shut up, stupid." They both laughed a little. Yuri then gained a serious look on her face.

"So, how's the glitch? Is she gone yet?" Yuri asked. Naoi grin turned into a frown.

It's only been a few hours.

"Still, you need to get rid of your little pet." she advised. Naoi huffed.

"She's a person." he asserted. "She has a soul too you know."

"Whatever. I still don't understand why you like it so much." Yuri stood up and looked out her window.

"You should go. I think there's gonna be rain tonight."

"Hmph. See you." Naoi walked out of the room. He then remembered that Mai was still with those girl band morons. Even though he just learned her actual name, he still couldn't quite get the feel for calling her 'Mai'. He still insisted calling her 'Nanami', probably because he came up with the name himself. He snapped out of his thoughts and started heading towards the building he left her in.

GirlsDeMo Practicing Room -

There was vivid music coming from the room. As Naoi walked through the hallway, he noticed that he heard someone singing...quite terribly.

 _I..Itsu made mo kaenai de koori no you ...ni..._

 _N-Natsu no hizashi atsukute mo... tokezu ni ite ne_!

The music slowly faded away. Naoi peeked through the door. It seems that they actually didn't kill her! Mai was holding a guitar while nervously holding a microphone. Naoi grinned. His plan worked out after all.

"Come on! I know you can sing better than that!" Yui whined. She was playing with the rest of the band behind Mai.

I didn't let you borrow my song for nothing, so sing it right! Yui pointed at Mai forcefully.

"Yeah, if Yui can sing it, I'm sure you can."

Quiet! Yui shouted at Hisako. The other two girls stood behind them laughing. Mai looked as if she was about to laugh, but then froze when she saw Naoi.

"Um..Hi" Mai whispered. The other girls took notice that he was standing at the door. Yui jumped towards him.

Hey! Thanks for dropping off your girlfriend! Yui happily shouted. Naoi stepped back a little and blushed. He scratched his cheek softly.

You've got it wrong...its not like that…

Yui got close to him and whispered, "Of course it is, don't be shy,silly."

Mai was standing behind them with a confused expression. She yawned a bit loudly and excused herself. Naoi and Yui looked over to her. She walked over to Yui and told her she had a good time, then started to trot down the hallway. Naoi quickly followed.

Nanami, wait up!

Mai had a shocked look on her face, but didn't turn around. He walked by her side.

What's wrong?

N...nothing. It's just you called me Nanami again… Naoi gained a smirk on his face. He saw that as an opportunity to taunt her. He gently put his hand on her head, which made her flinch.

You said you liked the name, so wjhy should I stop? Besides, you really are my cute little pet, no matter what I call you. He rubbed her hair back and forth as they slowly made their way out of the building.

P-pet? Mai's face was glowing red. He could already tell that she wasn't used to compliments, which made him want to bother her even more. His smirk grew wider.

Well, I do keep you and feed you, so what else could it mean? Naoi asked playfully. Then, as Yuri predicted rain started t


End file.
